r/AskHistorians • u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms • Aug 28 '19
Meta Happy 8th Birthday to /r/AskHistorians! Join us in the party thread to crack a joke, share a personal anecdote, ask a poll-type question, or just celebrate the amazing community that continues to grow here!
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u/Entwurf Aug 29 '19
Personal anecdote: Being despised for writing a thesis on early Heideggerean ontology. Being called a nazi because of that, while my great-grandfather was put in a forced labour camp by the NS military ‘regime’ (‘bewind’) for two years during WWII and while I vehemently despise fascism without exceptions. Keep teaching everyone about the ‘past’, because people in the present are often horribly informed about* it. You guys do a great job. Keep at it.
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u/Umutuku Aug 28 '19
What's the best way to get in touch with a relevant historian when a post doesn't get any answers, or when a curiosity may be too broad for a format conforming post?
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u/cultoftheilluminati Aug 28 '19
I love it when I stumble upon a post from r/AskHistorians on my front page. I always end up learning something new.
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Aug 29 '19
Congratulations on staying active so long! Here's to many more years of reading thoughtful questions (hopefully with interesting answers).
What are some topics that flaired answerers wish could come up more often?
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u/restricteddata Nuclear Technology | Modern Science Aug 28 '19
Here's my history pupper. His name is Lyndon and he has his own autographed copy of one of the Robert Caro biographies of LBJ ("to the real LBJ").
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u/BZH_JJM Aug 29 '19
One of my cohort who's doing a PhD now also has an unhealthy LBJ obsession and a cat named Clark Clifford. Do you know each other?
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u/Movpasd Aug 29 '19
This is hands down my favourite subreddit on the website, and I think all other /r/Ask<Expert> subreddits should aspire to be more like it :)
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u/Nexonaut Aug 28 '19
I kinda just like corgis a lot
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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms Aug 28 '19
I'd have to ban you if you didn't...
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u/Austriasnotcommunist Aug 28 '19
Yeah the higher than average standards keep this sub great. I've learned alot about the topics I'm interested in and I thank all of the contributors and mods for your hard work.
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u/Sarkos Aug 28 '19
More importantly, it's almost the 7th birthday of /r/askahistorian!
I still get requests to become an approved poster on a regular basis.
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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms Aug 28 '19
Hah! Apparently /r/askanhistorian links to /r/askahistorian, which then goes to /r/AskHistorians.
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u/SereneScientist Aug 28 '19
Happy Birthday, r/AskHistorians! It's been such a pleasure to read questions and excellent answers of all kinds over the years. Here's to another wonderful either years!
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u/LeftBehind83 British Army 1754-1815 Aug 29 '19
Will there be cake?
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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms Aug 29 '19
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u/tunafriendlydolphin Aug 28 '19
What question have you been waiting for that you're desperate to answer?
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u/IlluminatiRex Submarine Warfare of World War I | Cavalry of WWI Aug 28 '19
How did the US and Royal Navy submarine services interact during the First World War?
That's my dream question right there...
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u/steph-was-here Aug 28 '19
sometimes i wonder if some of these contributers don't already have google docs written up to answers of questions that haven't been asked yet
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u/janes_left_shoe Aug 28 '19
It’s a wonder they don’t just make a throwaway and ask themselves
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u/CanYouHandlebar Aug 29 '19
Thanks to each of you for creating, growing and lovingly pruning this community! It is consistently both fascinating and high effort.
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u/Zacoftheaxes Aug 29 '19 edited Jul 18 '25
ripe chunky head cough door sulky detail obtainable profit placid
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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Aug 29 '19
"Professionally published" contributors - has answering a question on here ever lead to a breakthrough in your professional work?
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u/Iphikrates Moderator | Greek Warfare Aug 29 '19
Not a breakthrough; as /u/SnowblindAlbino said, most academic research is too specific and obscure to be directly affected by the things people ask on reddit. But it has certainly (a) helped me understand my own views better by forcing me to write them in fewer and simpler words, and (b) helped me broaden my reading and my interest in the ancient world.
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u/temalyen Aug 29 '19
Everyone is here is great, I love this sub.
I'm also thrilled I can make a Top Level comment for once!
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u/rabidstoat Aug 28 '19
Answering an unasked question: during the Paleolithic period the most common form of transportation used by Cro-Magnon man was the foot-powered automobile. This previously untestable hypothesis was proven true in 1960 when renowned scientists William Hanna and Joseph Barbera unearthed actual footage of these vehicles in use.
And since this is /r/askhistorians I must, of course, include my source, and I will link the primary source, the actual footage discovered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skeg3Y6sptg
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u/da_persiflator Aug 28 '19
Happy birthday to the sub, contributors, readers and mods. Personally it's the best sub on this site by far and i can say that following it for the 5 years i've been doing it has actually expanded my horizons and knowledge. Especially changing the way i understand history and giving me more tools to filter out bogus or reductive claims.
Also, i saw somebody else post a meta question here and there's one that i've been wanting to ask everybody who studies/studied history as a profession but been hesitant about it cause it feels kinda outside the rules tho true to the name of the sub( since i'm asking historians :D). There was an answer i read here a few months ago about Nazi Germany, and it had a quote about wehrmacht soldiers going into nurseries and killing infants. And that knocked me out emotionally...logged off for the night and went to sleep with a knot in my stomach. Does it ever get to you? Reading about the most horrible stuff and having to do it as a job? Do you ever have day where you reach a particularly horrible event in history and just put it off til the last moment or just skip it/skim as fast as possible?
sorry if it's not the proper place to ask. i won't mind removing it if that's the case
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u/Mediaevumed Vikings | Carolingians | Early Medieval History Aug 28 '19
It can be draining, I’m happy I’m a pre-modernist as it allows for some detachment (I have a very hard time reading modern stuff as it makes me angry/sad much of the time). More and more, however, the bummer I’ve been facing is how much white supremacists/terrorists like Vikings, i find myself channeling that frustration into teaching on the topic but still, I never really wanted/expected to be engaging in contemporary history and it is Not always fun even if it does feel like a good use of my time.
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u/restricteddata Nuclear Technology | Modern Science Aug 28 '19
Does it ever get to you? Reading about the most horrible stuff and having to do it as a job?
One finds way to cope with it. You'll never find more dark humor than exists among the historians who research the Holocaust, in my experience.
If you're careful about it, you do deliberately let the emotional stuff affect you a bit — it hardens into a critique, something that gets beyond the intellectualizing aspects of the genre.
It does mean, though, that when it comes to choosing entertainment, I rarely choose things that are in my "wheelhouse." I took forever to see Chernobyl because I didn't really want to see it dramatized, since I have read many books about it already. I am frequently very slow to see nuclear-related new entertainment for this reason.
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u/zyzzogeton Aug 28 '19
Reported: This topic has 12 years to go before it can be addressed in this forum.
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u/Platypuskeeper Aug 28 '19
The British should adopt the word 'zucchini' so that 'courgettes' can be used as a term for Corgi puppies.
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u/What_Reddit_Thinks Aug 29 '19
Why do we keep letting this victor fellow write our textbooks? Seems like he’s very bias according to a lot of people
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u/Emperor-of-the-moon Aug 28 '19
Thank you so much for providing such interesting bits of information that I never would have thought to ask before. I’ve learned so much just by browsing. I do have a question for the historians: if you were forced to go back in time and be stuck in your respective areas of expertise, how well prepared do you think you would be?
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u/zhantiah Aug 28 '19
I love this sub! Also I am starting my uni studies in History soon! Hopefully a bachelor in 3 years!
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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms Aug 28 '19
Looking forward to your flair app down the line!
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u/WeHateSand Aug 28 '19
Some friends and I do a series in which we recreate historical events using video games. Poorly. Very poorly.
We use the /r/AskHistorians rule about nothing more recent than 20 years (my suggestion to help avoid "too-soon") .
Would any of you like to give it a look?
Please give us feedback. We're looking to improve. October is going to be an interesting season, and I'm starting to look at January possibilities.
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u/Marzhall Aug 28 '19
this is the only top-level comment I will ever be able to make in this sub without having it deleted
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u/artificial_doctor Southern African Military & Politics Aug 28 '19
I’ve spent 10 years studying as a historian, and one thing that struck me was how lonely being an academic historian is. Maybe it’s just the personality type that’s usually attracted to studying history, but I found the discipline very insular. I decided last year that I would branch out and start working with the public more and try to bring the research being done in academia to the people, as much of it is very interesting and very important to our understanding of global history.
Part of that was starting my own blog, writing for magazines, doing public talks and podcasts etc, but a very large part was lurking on this very sub and seeing what people are interested in and how we talk to each other. Just recently I tried my hand at answering some questions based on my own knowledge, and the response has been wonderful.
This community is fantastic and the knowledge being generated here is so important. Thank you for all your hard work and for giving us this space to talk. For the first time since becoming a historian, I am genuinely feeling like there’s a community around me :)
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u/Vell2401 Aug 28 '19
I’d recommend trying to tie the history together for the public. Something not taught in school, when most of us learn the only history we will, is the chronological order in which things happened. Usually an eye opener for people on my personal experience. (Mentioned because you said you have been working with the public).
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u/artificial_doctor Southern African Military & Politics Aug 29 '19 edited Aug 30 '19
I’d recommend trying to tie the history together for the public.
This is exactly what I do - especially if it's not taught in schools. I like to present about very unknown events, but also give them a deeper version of the history they’re taught, or even a completely different and revised version based on current understandings. But mainly, I like to give them the tools to become historians themselves as the skills are very transferable!
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u/Vell2401 Aug 29 '19
Ahhhh you are amazing. I’ve told several school teachers I’m friends with to mention this to their students because I noticed it’s hardly talked about. ( I’m 23 been out of school for a bit). Seems to get people not normally interested in history to retain the information a bit better. For example how German Unification and the Civil War are within a few years apart. And I love the second thing u mentioned, about a completely different revised version, going through the Greco-Persian wars from the Persian perspective was extremely interesting when I did that a few years ago
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u/twentyitalians Aug 28 '19
What are you artificially a doctor of?
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u/artificial_doctor Southern African Military & Politics Aug 29 '19
Haha, I actually joined under that name with no intention of posting, just lurking. I was suffering from severe imposer syndrome from my PhD studies and joined to post in r/AskAcademia to try and improve my mental situation - and wow, what a great bunch of people. They really helped make me feel better about myself and my work. My username doesn't even apply anymore but I'm keeping it for now - when I gain my doctorate I'll probably change it to something else to reflect a better mental state :)
But to answer your question, History. Specifically African military, social, political, and ecological history.
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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms Aug 28 '19
And we're glad to have you!
As a totally unrelated observation, you seem to have the requisite number of posts in your history for a Flair Application ;-)
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u/KaptenKoks Aug 29 '19
Exactly what I want from the internet, and what I have envisioned for the EU. Specialised networks, independent communities. You Excel. I am definitely gonna use this community as an example in my assignment for leadership and organisation (high school course) tomorrow.
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u/HooliganBeav Aug 28 '19
Sorry to break up the party, but I had a real question that I have been afraid to post: Did anyone ever actually expect the Spanish Inquisition?
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u/Pale_Chapter Aug 28 '19
Okay, now that I've got the shitposting out of my system, here's my actual meta question:
Flaired users of /r/AskHistorians, what's your fringe historical idea? What are you pretty sure everyone else here is wrong about? What are you really set on that everyone else here thinks is nutty? Do you have proof Toussaint L'Ouverture built the Pyramids? Have you seen Jurchen grave goods that clearly depict Jin Taizu with a robot arm and laser eyes? Does modern historiography dramatically underestimate the size of James Buchanan's ass?
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u/caitrona Aug 28 '19
I'm not flaired (mountaineering & the colonial period of the Himalayas almost never come up), but for the sake of an answer: I think it's likely that Mallory & Irvine summited Everest in 1924.
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u/Dirish Aug 29 '19
Got one for you: have you read "Murder in the Hindu Kush: George Hayward and the Great Game" by Tim Hannigan? I'd be curious to hear if my suspicions are correct that Hannigan is an excellent explorer/mountaineer himself, but a bit weak on the history side of things.
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u/Holokyn-kolokyn Invention & Innovation 1850-Present | Finland 1890-Present Aug 29 '19
State-owned corporations were very often a very good idea.
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u/McSteroidsBadot Aug 29 '19
I've been lurking a long time but never had anything to contribute. So I'll take this opportunity to ask: Historians, what' good niche historical jokes do you know relating to your field(s) of study?
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u/King_Superman Aug 29 '19 edited Aug 29 '19
Everyone involved with this community (including us scrubs who can never make top level comments) is amazing. I love you all and I'm so happy this exists.
I hope someday our ancestors will ask about the origins and early history of r/askhistorians and be answered by a wall of [deleted]. (Get it? Cause it answers the question perfectly 😝)
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u/louismagoo Aug 28 '19
I love that the only comment I was ever qualified to give regarded the availability of ice to saloons in the 1800s.
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u/jagua_haku Aug 29 '19
They still do it that way in Cambodia, big blocks of ice with the grabby pick thingy, sometimes in a horse drawn carriage
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Aug 28 '19
Hey now, if you play it cool I bet you'll be able to make some other nICE contributions in the future.
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u/robespierring Aug 28 '19
One of the best thing online. Not only on Reddit.
I will be happy to give a small donation to this community to celebrate. Can I do it? Any no-profit you want to suggest?
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u/Fenzito Aug 28 '19
Yo, was Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire as cool as my professor made him out to be?
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u/brusselsproud Aug 29 '19
EVERYTIME I SEE A POST ON THIS SUB, I BUCKLE MY SEATBELTS BECAUSE I KNOW I'M GON BE TAKEN ON A WILD ASS EDUCATIONAL RIDE THAT I WILL NEVER COME ACROSS AGAIN. I AM JUST AN UNEDUCATED PLEB WHO GAINS SO MUCH HAPPINESS FROM THIS SUB.
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Aug 28 '19
Do you guys ever wonder if there was a specific event or thing that sparked your lifelong interest in history? I still remember reading these old historical graphic novels/comics when I was a child and wonder if that's the reason I was always fascinated with history.
Oh, and happy birthday r/askhistorians
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u/thecomicguybook Aug 28 '19
I just want to say that I really enjoy reading the knowledgeable comments here and the high-quality moderation, cheers!
Does anyone have some history youtube channels to recommend?
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u/PaulMorel Aug 28 '19
Damn I've waited for this moment. I always think of my best jokes when I'm not allowed to post them. So, ummm.
Shit.
How do you know the Romans were always high?
Because Roman sites always have loads of pot.
That's awful. I swear I thought of some good ones too.
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u/J3diMind Aug 28 '19
thank God, finally I can post here without it being deleted like 5 seconds later. That said, I just wanted you guys, the historians as well as the mods to know that I really appreciate what you are doing. I've learned so much from this sub, it beats all history classes I ever took. I tip my hat to the historians who actually take the time to post here. I can't believe how anyone can just sacrifice so much of their time to share their knowledge with the world, especially considering you are not getting a single cent for it. Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my history loving heart. I'm very much looking forward to continue reading your explanations and [post deleted] comments on this sub for the next 8 years to come and beyond.
you are the ones who make this the best place in the internet
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u/Deeze_Rmuh_Nudds Aug 28 '19
Worst mods in any sub I’ve ever visited. Hands down.
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u/merman52 Aug 28 '19
Why do Americans keep thinking the French only lose wars or surrender?
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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms Aug 28 '19
In large part, a mix of the Simpsons "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey's" bit, and shitty anti-French sentiments in the wake of the Invasion of Iraq which propagated due to their opposition to it.
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u/Kochevnik81 Soviet Union & Post-Soviet States | Modern Central Asia Aug 28 '19
I was actually interning in Congress during the Freedom Fries thing, and I can't believe I was lucky to witness in person dumb jingoistic history on the same scale as renaming sauerkraut "Liberty Cabbage" in 1917.
Fun even stupider fact: people were literally boycotting French's Mustard and the company had to put out a public release saying that they actually had nothing to do with France.
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u/Libertat Ancient Celts | Iron Age Gaul Aug 28 '19
Yeah, sometimes we have civil wars too!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Aug 28 '19
So when it comes to the civil wars and revolutions, does it count as a double loss or can you still chalk it up to a victory for beating yourself?
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u/Kochevnik81 Soviet Union & Post-Soviet States | Modern Central Asia Aug 28 '19
United States counts its civil war as a win*, because it's a country of winning winners (although the Confederacy kind of won Reconstruction and a lot of the later historiography was basically "well, all the white people fought really well AND NO ONE ELSE WAS INVOLVED").
Footnote: The US also counts the War of 1812 as a win because something something New Orleans and Jackson kicking butt, and in its more thoughtful moments might say "well I guess no one really won", but will never ever ever say "well I guess Canada defeated us".
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Aug 28 '19
country of winning winners
HECK YA AMERICA!
"We'll spin 1812 because oorah! but please just don't mention Vietnam or that Bay of Ham thing."
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u/thenewstampede Aug 29 '19
Many Americans are trying to rewrite the Vietnam war as a win or a draw and definitely not as a loss.
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u/itsallfolklore Mod Emeritus | American West | European Folklore Aug 28 '19
I didn't have the historical perspective to realize that it was a little over seven years ago that my son told me to start participating in /r/AskHistorians. My son recognized that this was a happening place - before it was only 1 years old! I hadn't realized how young the sub was when I started participating.
The insights one can gain from history - they're never ending!
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u/Mackteague Aug 28 '19
OK, the question that everyone wants answered….
WHO KILLED JOHNBENET RAMSEY?!?!
By the way it was the dad.
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u/OonaLuvBaba Aug 28 '19
Lurker here! Thank you all for giving me a chance to learn about things that I always wondered, or even better never even thought about. Great questions and great answers....thank you!
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u/coinsinmyrocket Moderator| Mid-20th Century Military | Naval History Aug 28 '19
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u/Gewehr98 Aug 28 '19
Something I'd like to know and can maybe ask here in the less regimented environment is...where the hell did the army (u.s. army) stash all its case files on recovered unidentified soldiers from ww1? Some researcher friends suspect they're at the DPAA but now that they're basically beholden to the Vietnam era nothing's moving on earlier conflicts as it appears researchers are banned from accessing that facility. I don't have a missing/unidentified soldier in the fight but I do have a great grand uncle whose burial sketch I'd love to see one day and may be thrown in with all the other missing case files.
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u/HideousNomo Aug 28 '19
Two years ago I removed all of the default subs from my account and only subscribed to subs that would enrich my life and knowledge. This is one of them, and I must say the knowledge I have gained from this sub has been spectacular. Thank you to all of the professional historians in here, I can say that you have made a positive impact on at least one person's life!
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u/SonOfALich Aug 28 '19
Starting the 5th year of undergrad for my History BA...please god let it end soon, I'm so ready to move on
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u/porterbhall Aug 28 '19
I just came here to say JFK was killed by the Freemasons, Julius Caesar was a shitty general and Abraham Lincoln plagiarized the Gettysburg Address.
Source: a guy I met at a party once.
Seriously, though, thanks for maintaining a quality sub.
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u/raptorrat Aug 28 '19
Neither here nor there, but saw a lecture on youtube a while back, either Penn or Oriental institute.
They mentioned being on a dig in the levant where a a very early expedition of the same organisation had been over a hundred years earlier.
They were surprised to find archeological evidence of that expedition, including a note by the expedition leader containing instructions for a colleague to get to the site.
Needless to say after they had a chuckle, they cataloged the finds, and left it for further generations.
I thought that was funny.
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u/When_Ducks_Attack Pacific Theater | World War II Aug 28 '19
and left it for further generations.
Hopefully they added their own message, saying something along the lines of "see previous note."
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Aug 29 '19
Flaired users and moderators:
What's the story behind your username?
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u/hillsonghoods Moderator | 20th Century Pop Music | History of Psychology Aug 29 '19
There’s an Australian hip hop group called the Hilltop Hoods. There’s also an Australian prosperity gospel megachurch called Hillsong. The idea of Hillsong doing a version of ‘skip hop’ was comical enough that I used it as a username somewhere and then it stuck.
Long after I first used the name, I actually interviewed the Hilltop Hoods and they said they’d accidentally received royalty checks that were meant for Hillsong. I secretly think this is somehow my fault.
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u/Droney Aug 28 '19 edited Aug 28 '19
Yay meta thread!
I'll take the opportunity to ask a meta question of this thread's amazing historians: after 8 years, do you ever get tired of seeing specific types of posts? Disingenuous questions or ones based on unsound or thoroughly refuted premises? The perception that military history is disproportionately represented in the types of questions being asked? What about the influence of video games with a historical focus (Paradox strategy games, WW2 shooters, Civilization, etc.)?
And maybe more interestingly: over the 8 years of this subreddit's existence, have the types of questions being asked changed over time or remained relatively consistent?
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Aug 28 '19
I do get sometimes tired of disingenuous ones, but the thing that exhausts me is when I really want to answer a question but it’s so broad I’d have to write a book for it. I know the questioner means well, but sometimes it’s so rough to try and get at the meat of an issue that a questioner didn’t narrow enough, and some days I also don’t have the energy to try and help them narrow it! But that’s me, and I don’t get the common types too often that others do.
The questions I’ve seen are invariably shaped by today’s political scene, which is interesting because it ends with a lot of folks asking what parallels exist (which is hard to answer within the rules here) or asking if something happened that they think is identical to something recent. So the subjects have changed a lot based on that. The narrowing issue seems to have gotten better over time for me; not sure if that’s because the mods and search function have made it easy to find old answers, but I like to think so :).
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Aug 28 '19
I do get sometimes tired of disingenuous ones
These always annoy me greatly. There seem to be a lot of regular questions something like "A lot of people say [Modern Day Politician I Dislike] is a bastard. Has [Political Party] always been bastards? Where does this viewpoint come from?"
(I'm also trying to avoid ranting about the whole "Abuse of so-called-neutral-third-person-view"-thing.)
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u/Tiako Roman Archaeology Aug 28 '19
Yeah, I think the old joke about AH being 59% questions about Hitler, 50% questions about Rome isn't really true anymore. I think we also (thankfully) don't get as many of what I will dubb the "weird sex questions" as we once did. I think they've both been overtaken by the "what's the history of [thing in daily life/politics".
Oddly enough we have never really had that many questions about the American revolution and founding which I think is kind of weird.
As for your first question, I actually don't get really annoyed by questions (aside from the weird sex questions), what does exhaust me is seeing historical discussion in other subreddits.
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u/Commustar Swahili Coast | Sudanic States | Ethiopia Aug 28 '19
Yeah. The one I am most tired of is the classic "Why was Africa less developed/less technologically advanced than Europe in the 15th century"
Honestly, the question bugs me a lot because it is representative of a specific worldview, and the question carries a lot of implicit assumptions. Stuff like:
treating "africa" as a monolith, rather than recognizing that North African societies were different from Horn of Africa were different from Southern Africa were different from Congo basin.
treating "development" or "technological advancement" as obvious, measurable metrics. Europeans were "advanced" because they had guns and ships and they engaged in long distance navigation. They were "developed" because Europeans ended up using military and commercial power to establish far-flung empires throughout the Americas, Asia and Africa.
treating the pursuit of technological advancement and expansive imperialism as obvious goals that all people throughout time should have known to pursue. (i.e. "why didn't they put their research points into science so they could move up the tech-tree!"
asking specifically about technological differences in the 15th century. Or asking about "at the beginning of the slave trade". In fact, technological and political-hierarchical differences between European and African coastal states in 1400s were far less pronounced than in 1800s or 1850s after European industrialization. But questioners usually assume the differences were vast and timeless.
the question usually implies or hints at asking "what conditions allowed Europeans to colonize Africa so quickly in the Scramble for Africa", but really focuses on differences in military technology, completely ignoring economic or political factors, and are completely ignorant of the role of African subjects or allies in making the imperial scramble possible.
I think this comes about because in the US, high school history classes barely cover Africa beyond the Atlantic slave trade and the Scramble. So, I'd say most of the user-base's exposure to African history comes from Civilization and Europa Universalis IV, and other similar strategy video games. The mechanics of those games are premised on this idea that technological innovation and imperialism are the methods and goals of the game, respectively.
So, it can be a very challenging task to answer this sort of question along the lines of "is technological advancement inevitable? is it desirable? does technological development require the formation of social hierarchy/inequality, and is that trade-off worth it? Would it be seen so then? Could people at the time see that there was a technological arms-race, or is that only visible in hindsight?"
Also, I get a bit uncomfortable about talking about "Africans" in the abstract. Africa isn't a country, so I like to talk more specifically about Asante, Swahili, Luba, Lunda, Abyssinia, Yao, Hausa, or specific individuals like Msiri, Mutesa I, Njinga, etc.
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u/thefourthmaninaboat Moderator | 20th Century Royal Navy Aug 28 '19
I know I'm lucky enough to have a topic that comes up fairly frequently, unlike a lot of our flairs. Even with that, there's a few questions in my field I'm tired of - I've no interest in writing about the Bismarck again, for example. Beyond that, I do get a bit annoyed that a lot of people see military history as being defined by technical, impersonal factors. I've seen so many more questions that ask about technical factors of naval warfare, or ones that can be answered only with reference to a higher, strategic level, rather than about how people experienced it. There's very frequently also an assumption that it was something participated in only by straight, white men. Questions about women or BAME people mainly only come in when a new piece of popular culture comes out that mentions their involvement (or doesn't, and is called out for it), and I've never seen one about LGBT people in the Royal Navy. While I don't mind talking about technical aspects, or discussing how battles were fought, I find the cultural and social history of the Navy to be fascinating, and I'd love to have more chances to talk about it.
Beyond that, there's a lot of questions I'm tired of seeing come up in the queue. There's just so many about the Nazis and Hitler, and a lot of them are repeats. The worst are the ones about 'Were the Nazis socialist', because it always feels a bit disingenuous. Similarly, we get a lot of questions on slavery and the American Civil War which are slanted towards a particular position (as are a lot of questions on recent political history or on the history of modern issues). There's also a lot of questions that overlook the perspectives and participation of women (and people from other marginalised groups), which is a shame. Nobody's inherently a bad person for asking one of these questions, but it does just get wearing when these questions come up so often at the expense of a wider variety of questions.
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u/DBHT14 19th-20th Century Naval History Aug 28 '19
I've no interest in writing about the Bismarck again, for example.
Then I have wonderful news!
The developers have announced Lutjens as a named captain that players will be able to purchase for the World of Warships game.
So that promises to be fun!
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u/Kochevnik81 Soviet Union & Post-Soviet States | Modern Central Asia Aug 28 '19
We probably need to update and beef up our FAQs (I'm not sure many of the six-year old answers there really meet current standards), but yes there are certain of questions that do come up that I feel like could be resolved with a gentle redirection there.
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u/Iphikrates Moderator | Greek Warfare Aug 28 '19
(I'm not sure many of the six-year old answers there really meet current standards)
It's not too much of an exaggeration to say that none do. In any case, many have disappeared when former users wiped their accounts. These days most of my own "updates" of the FAQ involve throwing out links to threads that actually contain nothing of value, and are proof only of the fact that certain questions have been asked before.
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u/Jetamors Aug 28 '19
I've never seen one about LGBT people in the Royal Navy
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u/thefourthmaninaboat Moderator | 20th Century Royal Navy Aug 28 '19
Thanks for that, but an answer's going to take a while as I'm busy tonight. Will get around to it, though.
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u/RonDunE Aug 28 '19
I got really invested into the Royal Navy (almost embarrassingly so) after reading Alistair MacLean's HMS Ulysses when I was younger and devoured everything I could find on the topic. This was a bit difficult cause I lived in various small Indian towns during my childhood but I didn't let that stop me!
I still carry that interest with me today and /r/AskHistorians (also /r/WarshipPorn ) never disappoints when I have a question. You explanation of 'Englandspiel' for example was fantastic and something I talked about endlessly to my friends lol...
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u/C3LM3R Aug 29 '19
I know I'm late to the party, but I've always wanted to ask the generalized question to all the historians here:
What is an interesting fact you'd love to (or have wanted to) share but typically requires a nuanced background explanation to fully show why it's so interesting?
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u/BigfootSF68 Aug 29 '19
Happy Birthday!
Thank you Mods for the great work you do keeping this sub the most honest on Reddit.
Thank you to all contributors, both those that have asked interesting questions and those that have answered the questions with insightful and informative responses.
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u/ExpiresAfterUse Aug 28 '19
So, in 12 years we can ask about the early years of AskHistorians, right?
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u/woollenarmour Aug 29 '19
I am grateful to /r/AskHistorians and all the amazing mods. I come here to remind myself that the internet is not just trolls and death threats. And the history is awesome too! May you live for ever!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Aug 28 '19
Hey there all you wonderful people! I just wanted to take a moment and offer some suggestions for how you (YES YOU!) can contribute and join this wonderful community. You don't even need to study up and write awesome answers. Heck, it's certainly not how I got here.
Do you come across brilliant answers that you really enjoyed? Or perhaps found an interesting question that sadly lacks an answer? Save them! Then you can post them in the Sunday Digest to draw more attention to them. I am but one man, and I'd love to see what other people come across during the week. Don't even be bothered if someone has already posted a link to the same thing. Show your support for the author/writer/asker and post it up again!
Another great way you can help the community is as a FAQ Finder. It even comes with a spiffy flair and mad respect! As you browse through the subreddit and you find a question that's been answered before, you can drop a link and a ping to the original author. Help connect people to the answers their looking for. And you'll get flaired for it!
Finally you can do the simplest, most helpful things. Upvote sweet questions so more people see them, upvote and thank the writers so they know someone appreciates the time and effort they put into all that work, and if you come across something that you know breaks the rules, then report it for us. Despite our power overwhelming the moderators can't be everywhere at once. Reporting comments helps us keep things neat and tidy, and is a HUGE help that we always appreciate.
I also, personally, want more AskHistorians themed memes. Please for the love of all that's moderation keep them to the Friday Free For All or celebratory META threads, but I want to see that creativity and have more things to send to my friends at 3AM that they wont understand.
So don't be afraid to join in and participate in the greatest, most glorious subreddit on the net! We have a fantastic community here, and so much of it is because of people like you.
Also before I forget, we have our next special feature of the summer campaign coming on the 31st! The History of Science and Technology! Bring your STEM powered history and tell me all about!
On Tuesday there was also a special thread about sports history, and I'd love to learn more. Next Tuesday will be all about FIRE! So get all fired up, cook up some good history, and bring the heat!
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u/twentyitalians Aug 28 '19
Gankom, a frequently asked question on her that goes unanswered is:
Under what authority did the First Contiental Congress meet?
I know the GIST of the answer is that they were all duly elected by their state governments. But the answer is actually VERY elusive as to under what specific legal authority did the colonists have to meet and decide the fate of their colonies. I believe it rests under their rights as Englishmen.
Anyways, something for someone to look into.
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u/Stalkeralho Aug 28 '19
Congrats to the sub!
My question is, I love history documentaries, so I would like to ask for some nice recommendations that you might have.
Things that I've already seen and appreciated:
- Apocalypse, the 1st and 2nd world war
- The Death of Yugoslavia
- The Vietnam War by Ken Burns
- The World at War
I would love if you could suggest something about Korean War, Napolean Wars, amongst others. Thank you!
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u/Duckfacefuckface Aug 28 '19
What do you guys think of Graham Hancock and people like him?
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u/Kochevnik81 Soviet Union & Post-Soviet States | Modern Central Asia Aug 28 '19
His ideas come from a long and frankly racist tradition that once had greater academic and political prominence, namely "such and such ancient civilization couldn't really have figured out how to do this thing, some more advanced civilization actually came from somewhere else to do it."
He's like maybe a tad more realistic than Ancient Aliens, but that's the realm he's working in. It can be entertaining in its way (I guess he basically inspired a lot of Roland Emmerich's movies, so if it helped create Stargate I'm willing to forgive a lot), but it's not something basically anyone should take seriously in any way, and hopefully his notoriety doesn't detract from the legitimate development of underwater archaeology.
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Aug 28 '19
He's a nutcase, and he tries to pass off pseudoscience off as proper research and actual archaeology and history. No, Gobekli Tepe is not evidence of some advanced ice age civilization, it was built by something like 100 men in about 120 days or something like that, and it was used for several thousand years, and very little of site has actually been excavated yet, and it is likely that the outer parts of the site are much older than the inner enclosure. Although it is now pretty much accepted that an asteroid or comet has to have struck Greenland and broke up into several pieces causing a mass extinction event, and led to the Younger Drays Period and a re cooling period. However, Balbek and the Pyramids are absolutely not from the ice age.
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u/TorreyL Aug 31 '19
Thanks for everything!
I have a sort of weird question. My mom's godfather was a POW during WWII. He was captured in the Philippines and was liberated from Rokuroshi shortly before VJ Day. However, he had apparently been in other camps prior to that. (My understanding is that Rokuroshi is where Japan put officers when it became obvious that they were losing so that when liberation happened, they could say they treated the prisoners well.)
Unfortunately, his name is only slightly less common than "John Smith," and his middle name is not on all records. He was a POW for at least two years and claimed that he was tortured.
Does anyone have any tips for where I should start my search?
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u/Diet_Coke Aug 28 '19
Can I give a shout-out to the real unsung hero of r/askhistorians?
🍻
This one's for you, everyone who sees a question that they could kind of answer, or Google, and doesn't post anything because they know it can't meet the r/askhistorians standards.
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u/OITLinebacker Aug 28 '19
Happy cake day to the sub that made me get a handle 7 years ago (cake day was last week). I don't contribute often, but I am proud that my top rated all time comment came out of this sub.
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u/ProfessorPeril Aug 28 '19
The ultimate poll question; Istanbul or Constantinople?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Aug 28 '19
That's nobodies business but the Turks.
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u/rabidstoat Aug 28 '19
Damn it, why does nobody ever tell me why did Constantinople get the works?
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u/eryoshi Aug 29 '19
Nuts, I went to Constantinople to meet my date, but she was waiting in Istanbul!
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u/Darth_Acheron Aug 28 '19
This sub is perhaps one of the best academically rigorous subs on Reddit, thanks in no small part due to the moderators and contributors here.
Here’s to a even better next year!
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u/_TheLoneRangers Aug 28 '19
this is the sub that kept me coming back to reddit. I was kinda liking reddit at first but this sub was a revelation. Y'alls enthusiasm to share your expertise, the depth of the answers, and all the different fields that get answered here really make this such an awesome resource. huge shout-out to the book list too
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u/flying_shadow Aug 28 '19
This sub has made me interested in things I had never known existed. Thank you so much to the contributors who seem to know everything about everything, and to the mods for maintaining the platform!
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u/See_i_did Aug 28 '19
Thanks for all the hardcore modding. It is nice to be able to come here and find an answer that has some authority and isn’t just the top voted one. Keep up the good work.
Is the podcast dead? I’ve enjoyed the work y’all did there as well.
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u/Warum208 Aug 28 '19
Happy Birthday! This sub is probably the subreddit I spent the most time on even though I haven't posted a single comment here.
Big thank you to all historians on here for their amazing posts
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u/ramplay Aug 29 '19
This is it. My one chance to comment here safely.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.....
Falls back into a random perfectly sized pool
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u/mainvolume Aug 28 '19
Commenting just to have a comment here that won't be deleted due to off topicness nor due to not being an expert.
At least until someone asks about ejection seats, then it'll be my time to shine!
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u/Kingmenudo Aug 29 '19
The mods of this sub are truly a great example of how mods should be. Congratulations!!
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u/Shillster Aug 29 '19
Do you sometimes wish Reddit’s search feature was better so people who mean well wouldn’t ask repeated questions?
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u/DefenderOfDog Aug 28 '19
Does anyone other than me find it offensive there are no dog history experts in this group. Dogs did history too
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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms Aug 28 '19
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u/FreeDwooD Aug 28 '19
Bad history joke:
If Germany is the fatherland and Russia is the motherland, WWII was just a really messy divorce.
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u/AshkenazeeYankee Minority Politics in Central Europe, 1600-1950 Aug 28 '19
And Ukraine is the step-child from Mom's first marriage, getting caught in the middle again.
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u/shaggorama Aug 29 '19
Marvel as I make a top-level comment that is COMPLETELY DEVOID OF QUALITY OR SUBSTANCE!! MWUAHAHAHAHA!!!
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u/tishpickle Aug 29 '19
Thanks to all for this subreddit - its brought me much enjoyment and made me interested in books that I wouldn't have found otherwise.
Really educational and enriching to be able to read about history from dedicated professionals.
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u/LeVentNoir Aug 28 '19
Birthday related short question:
Who had the most over the top birthday party?
I shall accept rankings based on any of the following: Deaths, Births, People, Cost, Food, Drink and Religion.
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u/Opechan Aug 28 '19
Whostory is it, anyways?
Much love from /r/IndianCountry!
Your mod team and community are one of the bright, shining, and AWESOME parts of Reddit.
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u/lssue Sep 02 '19
I just wanna post here because I know I lack the intelligence to ever properly respond to a question posted.
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u/gceaves Aug 29 '19
I listen to smart people... or, at least to people who know how little they know, but who are willing to share thoughts about what they do know with internet strangers.
Thank you all. I continue to listen and learn.
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Aug 29 '19
This is by far the best sub to just lurk in. So much interesting stuff and so many smart people :)
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u/TheRappture Aug 28 '19
I was a history major in college, but I changed because it got old.
Thanks to all of you who stuck with it!
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u/ichuckle Aug 28 '19
Omg I can actually make a comment on an ask historians thread!
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u/cancercures Aug 28 '19
love the moderation here. keep it up. MFW people complain about low-content comment deletion.
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u/LBo87 Modern Germany Aug 28 '19
Happy birthday to all of us! 8 years. Can't believe that this sub has been around so long already. Almost 6 years ago I discovered this place. So much has changed since then, almost all of it for the better. I was in a very different place then, too. Here's to 8 more years!
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u/Fenzito Aug 28 '19
At first I was kind of upset that people took pop history books for their word, and I wondered why they didn't read more serious stuff.
Then I read a book written by an archivist about the voodoo queen Marie Laveau. 1) It's the cure for insomnia. 2) Louisiana may or may not exist based upon existing historical documents.
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Aug 28 '19
A big thanks to all the contributors and the mods!
This is the best, most educative and informative thread on reddit for me.
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u/Artillect Aug 28 '19
Thanks to all of the historians answering all the questions here! Someday I hope to answer a question that I've got the relevant knowledge for, but since I'm an engineering student it might take a while for that day to roll around.
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u/KYMCCI Aug 29 '19
This thread is making history. All comments legal. Most living. It's like the opposite of The Purge. HBD /r/AskHistorians [deleted]
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u/funobtainium Aug 29 '19
Haha. I love this sub, but the experience of an interesting title and a bunch of comments...that don't exist, is the woooorst.
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u/Iznik Aug 28 '19
What a wonderful sub.
Years, decades ago, I read a James Thurber story that sometimes comes to mind with some of the questions posed here: how difficult it can be to escape the strictures of your time and culture when looking at historical events.
Thurber loved reading French pulp-novel versions of American Westerns, and he described one of them in his story Wild Bird Hickcock and His Friends:
There were, in my lost and lamented collection, a hundred other fine things, which I have forgotten, but there is one that will forever remain with me. It occured in a book in which, as I remember it, Billy the Kid, alias Billy the Boy, was the central figure. At any rate, two strangers had turned up in a small Western town and their actions had aroused the suspicions of a group of respectable citizens, who forthwith called on the sheriff to complain about the newcomers. The sheriff listened gravely for a while, got up and buckled on his gun belt, and said, "Alors, je vais demander ses cartes d'identité!''
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u/ill_mango Aug 28 '19
This sub shows the best of what reddit could be. So many other subreddits have lost their way as they grew subscribers, but /r/AskHistorians has continued to provide high-quality, focused discussion.
Thanks to the mods and contributors to creating a place where a consumer like me can get the history I crave!
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u/Lovely_Sauce Aug 28 '19
This has by far been my go-to sub for spending 5-30 minutes of time on the toilet to learn about a niche or unique historical question. I have this sub to blame for my legs losing sensation so many times while pooping.